


a pretty (good) bad idea

by lesbianxshuri



Series: moments on the waverider [8]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Food mention, Friendship, It's Ridiculous, Mention of Sanvers, Oh My God, Time Canary, all of them make a short appearance, and i cannot for the life of me, believe it - Freeform, but at least they're happy, call jimmy 'james', fluffy fluff, honestly, mention of westallen, they all need to chill, they're all nerds, this is mostly a legends fic, too many characters in this story, with some special guests
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 17:03:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10746051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianxshuri/pseuds/lesbianxshuri
Summary: “This is a bad idea.”“Have a bit of faith, Captain. We are all responsible adults, aren’t we?”“I beg to differ,”-------Or how the Legends spent their 4th of July with Team Super, Team Arrow and Team Flash (+ a few other guests) and didn't blow up the Waverider (somehow).





	a pretty (good) bad idea

**Author's Note:**

> i've given a piece of my soul to finish this 6k one-shot, honestly. but i like it, i hope you'll like it too ! 
> 
> the title is from sara bareilles' bad idea (from the musical "waitress").

 

 “This is a bad idea.”

 

Jax shared an eye roll with Sara, both groaning loudly. From where he was leaning against Rip’s office doorframe, Ray frowned, miffed, while Nate pouted at his feet, his arms crossed in petulance. Amaya threw them a look before turning to Mick, the latter responding to her cocked eyebrow with a low grumble. Martin, unlike the others, didn’t seem undeterred nor peeved by the Time Master’s constant pessimism.

 

“Have a bit of faith, Captain,” Martin insisted, his grin hopeful. Rip responded by cocking an eyebrow, his expression unmoved, “We are all responsible adults, aren’t we?”

 

“I beg to differ,” Rip muttered, gaze darting from one person to the other.

 

“Oh _come on,”_ Sara groaned, getting up from her chair and walked to her co-Captain, “We’ve celebrated Christmas in March this year, in the 18th Century. I think we should be allowed to celebrate the 4th of July with the others in our actual timeline.”

 

“Oh I’ve got nothing against you lot causing _chaos_ outside of my ship,” he retorted, his eyes wide-opened and his arms crossed against his chest. Sara mimicked his posture, her head tilted to the side, “I don’t even know why I’m involved in this, I’m _British,_ in case you didn’t notice,” he added, his accent purposefully thicker.

 

“Oh we’ve noticed,” Sara muttered to herself, running her fingers through her hair. She plastered a smile on when he glared down at her, “Come on, Rip. It’s going to be fine,” she repeated, her tone slightly gentle.

 

“It’s going to be _fun,”_ Jax added, “We’ve been at it non-stop for a year, man. We need a - well-deserved if I do say so myself – break.”

 

Rip’s gaze moved from to Jax to Nate and Ray, both of them staring at him eagerly and excitedly, to Amaya and Mick, who seemed to share the same indifference and complete boredom, to Martin, the latter staring at him with a knowing glint in his eyes. Finally, his eyes fell back onto Sara, rolling his eyes and stiffening a groan at her exaggerated pout and fluttering eyelashes. Letting out a sigh, Rip looked up to the ceiling, defeated.

 

“Gideon.”

 

“ _Yes, Captain?”_

_“_ Chart a course for Star City, 2017. Present time,” he announced, rubbing his temples and ignoring the elaborated handshake exchanged between Ray and Nate.

 

“ _Right away, Captain. Shall we plan a stop to Central City first?”_ Gideon recommended, oblivious to the Englishman’s growing distress. _Seemingly_ oblivious.

 

“Might as well,” Rip conceded, leaning back onto the holotable, avoiding Sara’s piercing stare, “ _Oy!”_ he called, frowning when he saw Jax, Ray and Nate leaving the bridge, “Where do you think you’re going? We’re about to time jump?”

 

“We’re taking the drop ship,” Jax told him, not even bothering to ask if he could actually take the ship. It was as much his that it was Rip’s, seeing as he was the most qualified to use it, “We’re going to buy some stuff for the barbecue. Race you there!” he added with a self-assured smirk.

 

The trio was gone before Rip could argue that they already had food on board and that the jumpship wasn’t a racecar. He groaned as he caught sight of Mick’s smirk, the latter patting his shoulder with unnecessary force as he passed him by, quickly followed by Martin and Amaya. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked down at Sara, frowning when he found her still staring at him, her eyes narrowed and her lips puckered.

 

“What is it, now?” Rip sighed, cocking an eyebrow.

 

“Just promise me something,” she held out a hand to stop any form of protesting, “You won’t go hide yourself and wallow in your room when we’ll get to Star City.”

 

“And why would I do that?” Sara cocked an eyebrow at him, her arms crossed as she stood her ground, “I don’t even need to be here. Again, _British,”_ he protested, pointing a finger to himself, “And this party isn’t for me, this is for you. All of you.”

 

“Still, you’re part of this team and we’re your _friends._ I won’t have you shut down in your room like a petulant child or moody teenager,” she insisted, “Captain’s orders,” her smug tone matching her smirk.

 

“You do realize that this is a shared title, right? You hold no power over me, whatsoever,” Rip deadpanned. He let out a groan at the narrowing of her eyes and low growl, “Fine, I’ll go to your _bloody_ party and promise to not lock myself into my room like a petulant child or moody teenager,” he consented, mimicking her earlier words.

 

Apparently satisfied with his response, Sara shot him a bright grin and held out a hand for him to take, her head tilted to the side. Snorting in amusement, Rip accepted the hand and gave it a firm, ceremonial shake. She took him by surprise by pulling him closer to her and dropping a resounding kiss onto his cheek. Leaning back with a wide grin on her face, Sara gave his hand one last squeeze before she let go and skipped to her chair under Mick’s crude whistles, leaving a frozen and bewildered Rip behind her.

 

“- _Ter? Captain Hunter?”_ Gideon’s slightly irritated voice pulled him out of his trance.

 

He blinked a few times before shaking his head and falling back onto the heels of his feet.

 

“Yes, Gideon?” Rip cleared his throat, passing his fingers through his hair.

 

“ _It would probably be best for you to strapped in. We are about to time jump.”_

“Right you are, as always,” he muttered, ignoring Sara’s smirk as he went to sit beside her, his gaze focused on the control panel in front of him.

 

_This was a horribly, terrifyingly bad idea._

* * *

 

 

Sara scowled as she took survey of the bridge, her arms crossed. He wasn’t here. Of _fucking_ course, he wasn’t. They had landed in a Starling City abandoned park a couple of hours ago and their gathering of Supers – and a Golden Glider – was in full blast. With a sigh, she pushed back her hair and raised on her toes, hoping to catch a mess of blonde curls or a sharp green gaze. She walked by a gawking Diggle and an amused Oliver as the former took the ship’s interior, muttering to himself about time ships. Making her way down the lowered gate, she restrained a frustrated groan as she noticed that Rip wasn’t outside by the grills either. She stopped a second at the sight of Mick standing – too - close to a flaming pit, an unimpressed Lisa Snart by his side. She let herself breathe out in relief when she noticed Amaya standing a few steps away from the duo of rogues, her eyes darting every two seconds to them before she resumed her discussion with Alex – Kara’s older sister – and her girlfriend, Maggie.

 

Sara made her way back to the bridge, dodging she added fondly dubbed as the group of geeks and nerds – namely Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Wally, Felicity, Nate, Ray and Winn – and walked to Kara, Iris and Thea, the trio observing the arguing with a mix of puzzlement and amusement. Seeing her approached, the younger Queen grabbed a bottle of beer from behind her and handed it to her. Sara accepted the drink with a grateful smile before she quickly uncapped it and took a huge gulp of it, sighing in relief as she cradled the bottle to her chest.

 

“Damn,” Iris whistled.

 

“Ditto. Hard being in charge?” Thea teased, her arms crossed and her own bottle hanging loosely between her fingers.

 

“You have no idea,” Sara muttered, running her fingers through her hair before casting another look around the bridge, “Say, you wouldn’t have seen a blonde, brooding, Englishman about ye high around the bridge?”

 

She watched as they exchanged looks before all shaking their heads, much to Sara’s dismay. With another sigh, she shot them another smile before resuming her search through the ship. She was tempted to go and march to Jax but decided to not to when seeing he was with his mother and the Stein family, apparently deep in conversation. She waited for him to catch her eye before she mouthed a simple question at him.

 

_Where the fuck is Rip?_

Jax gave her a clueless shrug to which Sara responded with an eye roll and a groan, her head falling back. It snapped back up when she heard him give a sharp whistle. Cocking an eyebrow at him, Jax responded with a smirk and a nod in her direction. With a frown, Sara twirled onto her heels and caught sight of Rip trying to sneak past their exceptional guests and into his office. That _fucker._

 

“ ** _Ah-ah_**!” Sara exclaimed as she stormed toward him, smugly satisfied when he let out a yelp, “There you are: I was _this_ close to seek Gideon on your ass. I thought we had a deal going on, Hunter.”

 

“We do,” he agreed, leaning back onto the doorframe of his office, “And as you can see, I’m not brooding like a moody teenager in my room.”

 

“You’re still avoiding people,” she pointed, “You need to mingle, get to know them.”

 

“I am _not_ avoiding people,” Rip protested, pinching the bridge of his nose, “And I’ve already ‘mingled’ as you put it. By the way, I’ve had a lovely discussion with Lily Stein, whom which I had no idea existed until today,” he added, his jaw clenched and his eyes darkening.

 

He scoffed when she returned his look, unperturbed by it. She didn’t try to contain her victorious smirk when he looked away, shaking his head. He was angry, irritated that they had kept things from him, things of great importance. Oh, how the tables have turned. She watched as his anger deflated, his shoulders relaxing. Sara understood that while he wouldn’t push it now, they weren’t done talking about it.

 

“I already know those people. I’m from the future, remember?” Rip waggled his eyebrows at her.

 

“You know _of_ those people or you know their futures selves. Two different things. Here, ” Sara handed him his beer, which he accepted the drink with a frown, wary, “ _You_ need to stop acting like a disgruntled old cat,” she said, wrapping an arm around his.

 

“You sure know how to make a guy feel nice about himself, Ms Lance,” Rip muttered, unconsciously taking a sip of her beer.

 

“What? Am I supposed to compliment you on your looks to get you to do what I want? Alright, then. You look really dashing today, Captain.”

 

Rip let out a snort, looking down at his outfit. Sara didn’t think that he had gone through the trouble of passing a comb through his hair, nor did he spent more than ten minutes looking for clothes to her, but he did. Annoyingly so, Rip looked _good._ He had abandoned his trench coat and had donned his brown worn out leather jacket, leaving it open to show the black shirt he was wearing underneath, matching with his dark jeans.

 

“Thanks, I guess,” Rip shot her a crooked smile, giving her a quick once-over, “I guess I could say the same thing about you, Miss Lance.”

 

“Oh you old charmer, you!” Sara cooed, dramatically flipping her hair over her shoulder as she began to pull on his arm, “Come on, now. Less flattering, more walking.”

 

Rip reluctantly followed her, making sure to dig his heels into the ground to slow down their pace. He responded to Sara’s glare with a look of his own, reminding her that he was being forced into this and that he could have very well taken his drop ship and gotten the hell out of here. Snorting, Sara resumed her trek toward where she had last seen Oliver and Diggle, grinning when she noticed they had been joined by her own father, Barry, Joe, Jimmy, J’onn and Lyla, the latter carrying little Sara in her arms.

 

“Fellas, ladies,” Sara called, her grin widening when they all turned to look at her, “Allow me to introduce you Captain Rip Hunter,” she nudged his shoulder with his, “Rip, I believe you already know who’s who.”

 

“Of course,” he gave them a nod, clearing his throat, “I’ve heard a lot about you. All of you. I would shake your hands if I had access to either one of them,” he added, shooting Sara a look, the latter ignoring it in favour of making faces to her namesake.

 

“It’s great to meet you, Rip,” Oliver nodded, holding his beer in greeting.

 

“Yeah, man. You’ve got a pretty cool ship,” Barry added, looking around himself in awe, “Didn’t get to see much of it last time.”

 

“Speaking of,” Diggle started with a frown, “We didn’t meet you then. Y’know, when we’re fighting aliens. I can’t believe those words left my mouth,” he added, mostly to himself.

 

“I can’t believe they did either,” Quentin muttered, patting Diggle on the back.

 

“Ah, yes,” Rip cleared his throat, switching his beer from one to the other so he could rub the back of his neck, ‘I was… unavailable at the time, actually.”

 

They all stared back at him, their eyebrows raised to their hairlines as if silently asking what could be more important than helping his team fight off an invasion of aliens. Rip kept his attention onto his beer while they stayed quiet. Sara – dear, beautiful Sara – put an end to the uncomfortable silence and held out her arms to the youngest Diggle, squirming the latter squirming in her mother’s arms as if trying to escape. He watched, mesmerized, as Sara put the toddler onto her hip without taking her arm away from his. Someone cleared out their throat and Rip’s attention turned back to the group in front of him.

 

“And… you’re a Time Traveller, is that it?” Joe prompted a change of subject and Rip could’ve hugged him.

 

“ _Master,_ actually,” he automatically corrected, letting himself breathe again, “And I was. The term doesn’t apply anymore since the Vanishing Point has been blown out. Semantics,” he quickly added when met with blank spaces.

 

“So you’re pretty much the last of your kind? Like Doctor Who?” Barry exclaimed as he excitedly bounced on the balls of his feet, only stopping when Joe put an end on his shoulder.

 

“One of the few, actually,” Rip answered, frowning at the comparison, “And contrary to your precious _Doctor,_ I am very much _human,_ “ he added, throwing at Sara when she scoffed, “Actually, I’m hoping to make Time Masters out of them,” he nodded toward the blonde stuck to his side.

 

He was vaguely aware of the discussion going on between Oliver and Diggle, concerning the realness of time travel. From the amused smirk plastered onto the former’s face, he guessed than it was easier for Mr Queen to get used to the strangeness of the situation than it was for Mr Diggle.

 

“Good luck with that,” Quentin snorted, pulling him out of his thoughts, “God knows what you had in mind when you formed this team.

 

“Aye,” Rip agreed, clicking the neck of his bottle to Quentin’s, “I ask myself the same question everyday.”

 

Sipping on his beer, he didn’t acknowledge the glare Sara was sending him, his attention focused onto a commotion happening in the corner of the ship.

 

“You know you love us, Hunter.”

 

“Don’t know where you got that idea, picking you lot made my life even more difficult than it already was,” Rip retorted after swallowing the alcohol. He frowned as he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, “ ** _OY!_** Where are you going now?!”

 

Sara looked up at the exclamation and followed Rip’s gaze, finding the reason of his outburst. The previous group of nerds and geeks had enlarged itself, now containing Jax, Kara, Thea and Iris. She frowned when she realized that, for some reason, Nate had steeled on. As if small children being chastised, the entire group had stopped, their previous enthusiasm suddenly gone. Except for Ray’s and Nate’s, which did nothing to reassure Sara.

 

“We’re going to see who’s stronger between Kara and myself,” Nate replied, bouncing in excitement.

 

“Oh really? And how and where do you plan to do that?” Rip sarcastically retorted. As Nate went to answer, he held out a hand, stopping him, “That was rhetorical, Dr Heywood. I’ve been told of the circumstances of your training with Dr Palmer and its following consequences. You must’ve gone absolutely bonkers if you think you’re going to fight onto this ship.”

 

“Yeah, I’m with Rip on this, guys. Plus, no offense Nate, but you wouldn’t last a second against her. She’s called _Supergirl_ for a reason,” Sara intervened.

 

Kara hummed approvingly and, like the dork that she was, put both of her fists on her hips as she turned to shot a smug smirk at Nate, the latter pouting.

 

“But that happened in the temporal zone!” Ray protested, frowning, “We’re in the present and on ground, Nate won’t be falling through time and into Feudal Japan this time.”

 

“Exactly, which is why you can try and go kill each other outside of the _Waverider,_ ” Sara said, soothingly rubbing the back of the whining toddler.

 

Rip’s head sharply turned to her, his eyes wide-opened at the suggestion and deaf to the group’s disturbing cheers. Sara responded with an indifferent shrug.

 

“Who’s going to try to get himself killed? Ooh, can I watch? Can I _try?’_

 

He didn’t notice Mick and Lisa re-entering the bridge until they were both standing by his side, the younger Snart smirking as she twirled a dark curl around her finger while Mick looked his usual interested self, a half eaten hot dog in his hand. From the corner of his eyes, he could see both Quentin and Joe reaching for their guns, remembering only a second too late that they hadn’t take it with them. Sara matched Lisa’s smirk and Rip looked up to the heavens, as if hoping for some sort of divine intervention.

 

“No one’s going to try to get himself or herself killed,” he gritted through clenched teeth, “Now, what do _you_ want?”

 

“The armoury. What are the access codes?” Mick grumbled, stuffing the rest of his sandwich in his mouth.

 

“Why the _blood_ y hell would you need the access codes to the armoury?” Rip asked, rubbing his temples.

 

“It’s getting dark outside. We need to step up the fireworks,” he shrugged,-“Y’know, I’m just asking to be polite.”

 

“And I’m saying this with all due respect, Mr Rory. There is absolutely _no way_ I will ever trust you with flammable and explosive flying rockets,” Rip retorted.

 

“I’ll be here to watch over him,” Lisa assured, her arms crossed as she watched the exchange with amusement.

 

“Oh good, in that case, I don’t see why I shouldn’t give them to you right away,” Rip deadpanned.

 

Having already lost interested in the argument, Mick focused his attention onto the group that had abandoned the idea of watching a match between Kara and Nate and was listening to the discussion, curious. Mick’s gaze went from one person to another, his eyes narrowed in thought before he slowly made his way to them, ignoring Rip’s protests as he snatched the beer out of his hands.

 

“You’re supposed to be geniuses, right?” he asked, downing the rest of the beer in one-go. He rolled his eyes when they all exchanged glances, as if silently asking if they were talking to them, “Look, can one of you get passed those codes?”

 

“Well of course,” Winn scoffed, offended of having his talents questioned, “But what is in for us?”

 

“Eternal gratitude, personal satisfaction, the fact you succeeded in hacking a spaceship,” Mick listed, “I don’t know and I don’t care. Can one of you do it?”

 

“First of all, it’s a time ship,” Jax corrected, his arms crossed and his brow furrowed, “And sure, I’m game. What about you, guys?”

 

“Okay, this isn’t fair. You know every inch of this ship. You’ve got an unfair advantage,” Cisco protested, to which Winn agreed.

“If you boys don’t feel like you’ve got what it takes, we’ll understand,” Felicity intervened, patting them on the back in mock sympathy, “I, on the other hand, am always up for a challenge,” she added, cracking her fingers.

 

Jax smirked before turning on his heels and walking off the bridge, closely followed by Felicity. Both Winn and Cisco exchanged a look before storming after the others, each trying to outrace the other. With a victorious smirk, Mick shoved the empty bottle back into Rip’s hand and walked off with Lisa on his heels, the latter patting the bewildered Captain’s cheek as she passed him by. Kara, Thea and Iris silently joined their group, the latter immediately going to her boyfriend and father’s sides while Thea stuck to her brother’s and Kara stopped next to Sara.

 

“This was a terrible idea,” Rip let out, once he had composed himself.

 

“Awful,” Sara agreed with him, gently squeezing his arm in support.

 

“I should never listen to you,” he continued, shaking his head, “Nothing good ever comes out of me listening to you.”

 

Sara hummed in agreement, to placate him. She caught Oliver’s narrowed eyes staring at her and cocked an eyebrow at him, slightly irritated by his scrutiny. He responded with a shake of head, a knowing smile plastered on his face. She wanted to slap that smile off his face so badly. Letting out a sigh, Sara broke the stare-off and cleared her throat, focusing her attention back onto the drooling toddler in her arms.

 

“Well,” Kara breathed out, her cheeks puffed, “My bet’s on Winn.”

 

Grinning, she exchanged high-fives with James and J’onn when both gave an approving nod. Barry let out a scoff, an arm wrapped around Iris’ shoulders

 

“While I don’t doubt Winn’s abilities, have you met Cisco? I mean, _come on:_ let’s be real.”

 

“Have _you_ met _Felicity?_ ” Thea countered, crossing her arms, “She’ll have that armoury opened in a matter of seconds.

 

“Amen to that,” Diggle said, raising his drink in her direction. Thea mimicked the gesture.

 

“Seriously, guys?” Sara intervened, tired and slightly annoyed. All felt silent at the small reprimand, their heads bowed down, “This discussion is ridiculous and pathetic. Jax is the one I’m putting my money on: he does know the ship best,” Sara smirked at their outraged cries _, “GET OUT YOUR WALLETS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I’M GOING TO BE RICH!”_

 

Rip snorted.

 

“You’re all ridiculous : _none_ of them are going to succeed in unlocking the armoury’s doors since Gideon won’t let them,” he snorted, smirking in satisfaction.

 

Sara scoffed and rolled her eyes at him, unable to stop her amused smile. _Of course_ they wouldn’t. That explained why he had put much of a fight earlier. Turning away from him, she was met with blank and confused stares. Barry seemed to be the exception, his eyes widened opened and a grin plastered on his face.

 

“No way, you’ve got your _own_ Gideon?”

 

“Wait, who’s Gideon?” Thea asked, her brown furrowed in confusion.

 

Rip’s smirk widened as he looked up at the ceiling.

 

“ _That would be me, Ms Queen,”_ the A.I’s response echoed through the ship and made more than a few people jumped in surprise. Sara couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped her lips at their reactions, “ _I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance.”_

“The pleasure’s all mine, Gideon,” Thea retorted, her grin matching Barry’s?

 

“Please, tell me I’m not the only hearing that voice,” Diggle pleaded, his eyes closed.

 

“ _I assure you Mr Diggle, I’m not the result of a hallucination,”_ Gideon replied, her tone slightly amused, _“I’d like to think that I’m my own person, Mr Allen. But as for your question, I’ll only say this: I’m merely an improvement from_ your _Gideon.”_

“Cool,” Barry whispered, his grin almost splitting his face in two, before he cleared his throat and added louder, “It’s good to hear you, Gideon.”

 

“ _Not as much_ _as it is to hear you, Mr Allen,”_ she returned, her tone warm.

 

“Now that you’ve had your heartfelt reunion, we can focused on more important matters, Gideon,” Rip intervened, the corner of his mouth lifting up to form a half smile, “Namely making sure Mr Rory doesn’t get his hands on fireworks.”

 

 _“Are you insinuating that I would let them in merely for my own entertainment, Captain?”_ Gideon asked, her tone falsely offended, “ _That would be dreadful etiquette.”_

“Indeed, it would and I wouldn’t dare suggesting anything of the sort. However, I do know how you get when bored,” he retorted, rocking back and forth on his feet.

 

“ _Oh believe me, they’re providing enough entertainment for it to be impossible for me to get bored. Should I warn them that any of their attempts would only result in failure, Captain?”_

_“_ Eh, maybe in 15 or 20 minutes,” Rip shrugged, his smile stretching onto his entire face, “Let them have their fun. Have yours, Gideon.”

_“Roger that, Captain.”_

 

Rip couldn’t help but snort, fondly shaking his head at the A.I’s eagerness. As he looked back to their guests, he was met with a mix of wonder, amusement and confusion. Diggle looked down right _terrified,_ he remarked. His gaze mindlessly racking through the various people gathered around the ship, it stopped when noticing a lone figure, leaning against a wall and silently observing her surroundings with a keen eye. His head tilted to the side, he narrowed his eyes at her before looking down at Sara, the latter looking back at him, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. She squeezed his arm as if to encourage him. Letting out a sigh, Rip returned his eyes to where he had noticed the loner, almost relieved when finding out she hadn’t move.

 

“Excuse me,” he announced loudly, detangling his arm from Sara as he began to work from the group, “It was nice to meet all of you,” he added, for good measure.

 

With her newly freed arm, Sara adjusted her hold on the youngest – now sleeping – Diggle and watched, her bottom lip stuck between her teeth, as Rip hesitantly made his way to her, mostly oblivious to the conversation going on or the look her father was currently sending her.

 

“ _Oliver, the guy had an entire discussion with his ship, do_ **not** _tell me calm down-”_

* * *

 

“Fancy seeing you here.”

 

Eve Baxter’s head snapped up toward him, the slight widening of her eyes being the only thing betraying her surprise. Rip tried a smile and was relieved when she shot him a genuine one in return. She pushed herself off the wall and went to meet him. There was something strange in seeing a fellow Time Master walk freely in his ship. There also was something strangely comforting in seeing Eve Baxter.

 

“I couldn’t refuse free food or booze, even if it meant associating with your band of hooligans, Hunter,” Eve countered, lifting her half empty bottle of Corona for him to see.

 

“What are you doing here? Not that I mean I’m minding your presence, it’s just-“

 

“ _Fucking_ weird?” she offered, the ghost of a smirk on her lips. She let out a soft, almost inaudible chuckle at Rip’s nod, “Your co-captain invited me, actually. She’s quite persistent, this one,” she remarked, cocking an eyebrow.

 

Rip snorted, getting rid of his empty bottle in exchange of a fresh one. He opened without any struggles and slowly began to work in direction of his study, silently inviting her to follow him.

 

“You have no idea,” he muttered.

 

“By the way, I hadn’t take you for one to share, especially this,” Eve said, matching his stride.

 

“Well it was mostly out of necessity, really,” he explained, skidding to a stop when they reached their destination, “But it turned out pretty alright.”

 

Eve hummed, taking a sip of her beer and letting herself slide onto the stairs. Letting out a sigh, Rip sat down next to her, his own bottle dangerously dangling from his fingers.

 

“I can see that,” she nodded, “You and your merry bands of misfits has improved since the last time I’ve seen you. You must’ve been pretty busy after blowing up the _Vanishing Point.”_

 

Rip’s eyes widened at the nonchalant statement, finding himself speechless as he stared at her. Eve didn’t seem to be bothered by his staring nor his stunned silent. She had _expected_ it, he realized as he noticed the beginning of a smirk at the corner of her mouth. Surprisingly, her tone hadn’t been reproachful, nor was her smirk disdainful. Eve had simply stated a fact and seemed, now, amused by his reaction.

 

“Oh come on, Rip. Close that gaping mouth of yours,” she snickered, “Who else would dare?” Eve added, waggling her eyebrows at him.

 

Rip’s mouth snapped shut, his teeth crashing together in a loud ‘ _clank’._ Rubbing his jaw, he took a sip of his beer before clearing his throat. Blowing the _Vanishing Point_ had been kind of an impulsive decision, thinking of the greater good rather that the consequences that would result from his actions. Neither had he thought about the other – now former – Time Masters away on missions.

 

“Ah. How have you been, uh, doing, by the way?” _All of you,_ he added inwardly.

 

“You mean without any orders or directions?” Eve shrugged, taking a swing of her drink, “I mean, pretty well considering. We’re all technically ‘Time Vigilantes’, operating without a higher authority. We’ve got our ships and enough resources, so there’s that.”

 

“ _Ah._ Well, sorry about that,” he grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

“Oh no, I didn’t mean it as a bad thing,” Eve was quick to assure, running her fingers through her hair, “I’m sure you’ve had your reasons to do what you did. Maybe it was for the best,” she muttered to herself, playing with the bottle between her hands.

 

Rip frowned down at her, trying to reconcile the person sitting next to him to the Captain bent on respecting the rules he had briefly heard during his assignments and had officially met when being captured during her rescue mission. He sighed and tore his gaze from Eve, focusing onto the party going on around them.

 

“You know,” Rip started, his head tilted to the side, “We could always use a second proper Time Master around here,” he shrugged in mock nonchalance, throwing her a quick look from the corner of his eye.

 

Eve mimicked his head tilt and pursed her lips, humming in thought.

 

“Tempting,” she admitted, the corner of her mouth twitching up, “I’ll have to pass, though. I don’t work well with others and no matter how nice the _Waverider_ is, the _Acheron_ owns my heart. Plus, I’ve been putting a lot of thoughts into settling down,” Eve confessed, her bottom stuck into her teeth. When meeting Rip’s surprised look, she scoffed, “You’re no special snowflake, Hunter. And I’m thinking that some time off would be nice.”

 

Rip snorted and gave her a small nod, stretching his legs in front of him and balancing his beer onto his knee.

 

“Well, that’s a noble decision for you to make. And if you ever need any help-” he started, holding his drink in front of him.

 

Eve shot him a small smile in return, knocking her bottle into his.

 

“Then, I’ll know who to call.”

 

* * *

 

 

Her legs dangling from the ship, Sara let out a satisfied sigh, watching as Joe, Jimmy, J’onn and her father – the elected responsible adults – began to plant the fireworks while Oliver and Diggle had designated themselves to work on the s’mores. The rest of them sat at the edge of the _Waverider_ , enjoying the calm moment and night summer breeze. Sara looked up at the darkening sky, pushing back her hair out of her eyes as she looked for the first star of the night. Jax nudging her side and handing her a stick of melted marshmallows interrupted her observation, which she accepted with a smile. Jax returned the smile, widening it into a grin when his gaze caught something behind her shoulder. He shifted his s’mores into his other hand, using the other as a makeshift megaphone.

 

_“Captain off the bridge!”_

All heads swivelled at the call, the _Waverider_ crew whistling and cheering when noticing the arrival of Rip. The latter rolled his eyes, stiffening a smile as he stared back at Jax, unimpressed, to which the younger man responded with a smirk. Letting out a sigh, he shrugged off his jacket and draped it over his arm before stuffing his hands in his pockets. Sara gave him a small wave when his gaze fell onto her, green eyes met blue. _Had she been staring for that long_ , she thought to herself before breaking the stare-off and focusing onto her swinging legs. From the corner of her eye; Sara could see him getting closer, only to be stopped by Jax handing him his own stick of melted marshmallows.

 

“What the _bloody_ hell is _that?_ ” Rip groaned and Sara didn’t have to look up at him to picture the disgusted frown plastered on his face.

 

“S’mores, man,” Jax replied enthusiascally, undeterred by Rip’s disdain, “Come on, it’s better than it looks, I promise. You gotta live the full American 4th of July experience. _Fun_ , remember?”

 

Rip grumbled something that Sara couldn’t understand before snatching the stick of sugary good out of Jax’s hand, the latter proudly satisfied. It shouldn’t be surprising: Jax had something that got Rip to do everything the younger man wanted. To be honest, the youngest Legend got his way with everyone in the crew. Sara let a smile gracing her face before she turned her gaze back to the now starry sky. She didn’t tear her eyes away from it when Rip sat down next to her with a grunt, wearily eyeing the treat Jax had given him.

 

“And how the hell I’m supposed to eat that?”

 

“With your mouth and teeth,” Sara retorted, biting into her own as if to demonstrate.

 

“ _Hardy-har-har,”_ Rip deadpanned, “You’re hilarious.”

 

Sara met his blank stare and sent him a close-lipped smile, her cheeks puffed with marshmallows. Rolling his eyes at her, he took a tentative bite and let out a surprised, appreciative hum, the sound earning a chuckle from Sara. Swallowing the gooey substance in her mouth, she sucked on the marshmallow that had melted on her thumb.

 

“So,” she started, shivering at a sudden strong gush of wind, “Still think that today was a bad idea?”

 

 _“Oh_ _yes,_ ” Rip affirmed, his eyebrows up as he looked back at her.

 

Skilfully balancing the stick between two fingers, he used his other hand to wrap his jacket over her shoulders. A small smile playing at the corner of her mouth, Sara kept quiet as he adjusted it around her smaller frame, pulling up the collar so it covered her neck.

 

“But I’ll admit, it had its good moments. And surprises,” Rip added, his tone meaningful as he cocked an eyebrow at her.

 

“So it _was_ a good idea,” Sara insisted, chuckling at his persistence.

 

“Here, let’s compromise: it was a pretty… good _bad_ idea,” he said, smirking down at her.

 

Sara’s nose wrinkled at the oxymora and cocked an eyebrow at him. Rip stared back at her and mimicked her expression, earning a snort and shake of head.

“Alright,” she sighed, stealing a – now – cold marshmallow off his stick, “It was a pretty good bad idea.”

 

Rip’s smirk into a grin as he gave her an approving nod and nudged her shoulder with his. Sara returned the nudge with a smile of her own, adjusting the falling jacket onto her shoulders and burying her nose in the collar, her eyes locked into his. And if Rip’s green gaze darkened at the small gesture, no one remarked on it. They broke their stare off at the loud sound of fireworks being fired and loud cheers of their comrades, looking up at the explosion of colours lighting the dark sky. Throwing Rip a quick look, Sara couldn’t help the fond smile that appeared on her lips at his awed expression as he stared at the bright sparks. He looked so different, then. Unguarded. Unburdened. _Happy._ As she rested her head onto his shoulder, her gaze turned upward, Sara found herself hoping for more pretty good bad ideas in the future.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for taking the time to read this, it means the world to me ! please, don't forget to leave a comment telling me what you thought about it : i'll love you forever for it. 
> 
> also, you can follow me on tumblr, @oreosmunroe, and we'll become best friends. 
> 
> until next time, peeps   
> kadi.


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